NY - 13 people killed, 4 injured in shooting at immigration center, 3 April 2009

[SuziQ]

http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/

April 3rd, 2009
Search warrant obtained after N.Y. shooting
Posted: 04:00 PM ET
From Susan Candiotti
CNN
BINGHAMTON, New York (CNN) — A law enforcement source says authorities have obtained a search warrant for the home of the suspected shooter in Friday’s incident in which 13 people died.
The home is in Binghamton, the source said.
The source would not confirm the suspected shooter’s name.

 

[goldenlady]

Forgot to add- Johnson City had a huge influx of immigrants from Laos and Vietnam in the last 20 years or so...These populations have still resided in Johnson City over the years so if the suspect has any family, that is where they will be. I've heard that the name given out is possibly just an alias so the city wants to get their facts straight before releasing a name.

There is a high school about a block away from the shooting that was on lockdown all day. I teach for another local district but we kept getting word in throughout the day.

 

[JBean]

Off and On topic

Our local radio had a little segment on what to do if you find yourself shot in this situation. I thought it was helpful.
1. Drop to the floor and don't move. It may not hurt that much right away and you have to play dead until the shooter is gone.
2.Get it set in your mind that you can make it. many of these wounds will take a long time to kill you. Know in your mind if an ambulance can get to you, you have a good chance.
3. If you can locate the exit wounds of the gunshots, plug them up with anything you can find. your clothes, socks, whatever.
4. Remember at all times how much you want to live.
5. Stay calm so you do not go into shock.

 

[Kymistry35]

Wow, what an evil person that man must have been. God bless everyone involved in this tragedy.

 

[Lovejac]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/hostage_shooting

The suspected gunman carried ID with the name of 42-year-old Jiverly Voong, of nearby Johnson City, N.Y., but that was believed to be an alias, said a law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A second law enforcement official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the two handguns were registered to Jiverly Wong, another name the man used. Both officials were not authorized to speak publicly.

Initial reports suggested Voong had recently been let go from IBM. But a person at IBM said there was no record of a Jiverly Voong ever working there.

 

[TxBecca]

CNN says this:

Christine Guy said she worked with Wong at Endicott Interconnect Technologies, a high-tech electronics company in Endicott, New York, where he was an engineer.

He went by the name "Vaughn," which is what co-workers called him, she said

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/03/binghamton.shooting/index.html

It's just so weird that he had multiple aliases! It also states at that link that they have talked to his mother at his home.

 

[Lovejac]

I found this picture of him.

http://www.techbanyan.com/4076/jiverly-voong-jives-off-the-tangent/

 

[KaylynnCouture]

Voong Family Neighbors React:
http://www.wbng.com/news/shooting/42456242.html
Photo of the house:
http://www.wbng.com/news/shooting/42450927.html

 

[abbra]

I am a native resident of Binghamton, An active member of the Civic Association and a substitute Volunteer English Tutor. My dear dear friend Shirley was the receptionist who was shot in the abdomen, crawled under her desk and called police. She was still in critical condition this a.m. My other friend Bobbie the 72 year old teacher was a friend too. Bobbie was teaching the class I was going to volunteer to teach but my schedule did not permit it. Bobbie was killed by the gunman.
My husband, Myself and my sister who is a board member of the Civic Association all volunteer for fundraisers and other activities at the center. I could not sleep the other evening thinking about the layout of the center. The back door where the killer parked his borrowed vehicle is the door my husband and I usually sit at when we collect money for functions, right inside the door in fact our table is usually set up. The kitchen of the center is right across from our table and one of the doors to the basement is right next to our table. The kitchen is large and has nooks to hide in. Its the same in the basement of the building.
Those of us who have been so actively involved with the center are numb, in shock, in grief and left wondering why this happened. The area where it is located is a haven for crime, drugs and gangs unlike the pleasant picture the national news channels presented to news watchers. A previous poster posted that you don;t walk in that area at night and this is true. Its a very dangerous area.
This senseless tragedy only proves what some of us who attend city council meetings mean. The mayor of this city wants to cut police jobs while crime increase. Even our councilman who is a very good friend was beaten in the head last fall by kids roaming the street. They jumped him and knocked him off his bike when he was on his way home from a meeting at city hall.
This is a type of initiation into a bloods, crips gang or other gangs that roam the area. A man was murdered in front of our state senators home a few years back when he was jumped by this type of gang.
Binghamton is not a safe place to live any more and this violent crime cements that belief now to we residents.
What was once a family oriented, safe area to live in has now become a haven for criminals and sex offenders. Binghamton has the highest rate of sex offenders residing in the United States.

 

[goldenlady]

Those of us who have been so actively involved with the center are numb, in shock, in grief and left wondering why this happened. The area where it is located is a haven for crime, drugs and gangs unlike the pleasant picture the national news channels presented to news watchers. A previous poster posted that you don;t walk in that area at night and this is true. Its a very dangerous area.
This senseless tragedy only proves what some of us who attend city council meetings mean. The mayor of this city wants to cut police jobs while crime increase. Even our councilman who is a very good friend was beaten in the head last fall by kids roaming the street. They jumped him and knocked him off his bike when he was on his way home from a meeting at city hall.
This is a type of initiation into a bloods, crips gang or other gangs that roam the area. A man was murdered in front of our state senators home a few years back when he was jumped by this type of gang.
Binghamton is not a safe place to live any more and this violent crime cements that belief now to we residents.
What was once a family oriented, safe area to live in has now become a haven for criminals and sex offenders. Binghamton has the highest rate of sex offenders residing in the United States.

The other Binghamton native just saying hi back- I am so sorry for the loss of your friends, especially when you were all providing a wonderful service. Shirley definitely is a hero.

I don't know if this link has been posted but http://www.pressconnects.com has some current information about the situation if anyone is interested.

Just as a side note about Binghamton...I am surprised such a tragedy occurred so close to home but like it has been mentioned, I am not surprised. It is very ironic how some media reports make it out to be a small, nice area where instead the opposite is true. Lots of gang violence, theft, drugs...many incidents at local bars and nightclubs over the past years- if I recall correctly, a shooting occurred at one over the summer. It's unfortunate as I grew up in the area and in the next ten years or so I hope I am lucky enough to have a family of my own but it makes me uneasy to think of raising a family here in current times.

Once again, my deepest sympathies...It is going to be so hard for the community to heal from this...

 

[abbra]

Thankyou Goldenlady for those comforting words. Good news is Shirley is in stable condition thanks to my surgeon. He is an excellent trauma surgeon. It was a harrowing two days as many of us that volunteered at the Center waited for word of our friends fates. Now we all must attend the funerals of those who we came to know and befriend, those departed souls who came to this area and this country for a better life and to live in freedom.
I do not think I will ever be able to go back inside the center, not even to honor those who lives were taken from them. I am sure some of the other Civic Center Family feels the same way as I. We are all just devastated by this crime along with feeling fearful that something like this can happen in our community again. Those public officials in Binghamton talk of letting the healing begin from this tragedy but how could it! This wound is still fresh in our minds and is not even days old yet!
My husband and I are a few years from retirement and because this town and surrounding areas have become so unsafe we intend to leave the only city we've ever known as home, to get away from the violence that permeates these city streets.
When our friend Councilman Charles Kramer can't even ride his bike on city streets without getting bashed in the head and thrown from his bike by a group of thugs who travel these city streets looking for gang initiation victims or my elderly neighbors fear for their safety because the drug dealers and gangs wander our once peaceful neighborhood looking for homes to break into, and while Mayor Ryan refuses to give the police a contract and wants to lay off police when crime is on the increase its time to consider moving out of the area. The politicking in this city is disturbing and the politicians have no regard for the residents. If the police did not act properly in the Civic Center Matter the DA and city hall are already starting to spin their web if you read the news this a.m. I understand some families of victims are asking questions as to why the police waited so long to enter the building, that perhaps their loved ones could have been saved.
In the meantime we the Civic Center Family and Friends live with heavy hearts.
Stay Safe Goldenlady and family.
South Side Annie